LOVE AFFAIR RAGES ON

The huge event, set to feature the likes of Fatboy Slim, has still to get the go-ahead from Newcastle City Council...

The future of BBC RADIO 1’s LOVE PARADE is hanging in the balance today (July 13 because NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL still hasn’t given the go-ahead for the event to be held there.

The huge event, Britain’s biggest free outdoor music festival featuring the likes of Fatboy Slim, Jon Carter, Darren Emerson and Pete Tong, is due to take place on July 21.

But Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt claims that the council still hasn’t satisfied conditions demanded by Newcastle Police.

Today, it was announced he had written to the leader of Newcastle City Council Tony Flynn demanding that he resolve the outstanding issue by 6.00pm tomorrow (Saturday 14 July), or else Radio 1 will pull the event.

Radio 1 is claiming that it had met all the requirements on its behalf to stage the event safely, but that the local police say the council has failed to organise a ‘park and ride’ scheme, which is essential for the event’s traffic management. Without it,

the police say, Love Parade cannot go ahead.

Parfitt said: “The council leadership have shown massive support for Radio 1 and the Love

Parade over many months. We have been embraced warmly by so many people in the region, but they now need to bang a few heads together and get this issue sorted out, or thousands of music fans are going to be disappointed.”

A press officer at Newcastle City Council told NME.COM: “The official line is that Newcastle City Council is still under negotiations with Radio 1 and policing and organisers on issues of public entertainment licences. I can’t say anything further than that.”